and denouncing misery on
whomsoever should either purchase or read 'the accursed books' which had
been sent into the country by heretics for the purpose of perverting the
innocent minds of the population. They did more: they commenced a
process against the bookseller in the ecclesiastical court. Fortunately
this court is not at present in the possession of much authority, and the
bookseller, who is a bold and determined man, set them at defiance, and
went so far as to affix an advertisement to the gate of the very
cathedral. Notwithstanding the cry raised against the work several
copies were sold at Leon, two were purchased by ex-friars, and the same
number by parochial priests from neighbouring villages. I believe the
whole number disposed of during my stay amounted to fifteen, so that my
visit to this dark corner has not been altogether in vain, as the seed of
the Gospel has been sown, though sparingly. But the palpableness of the
darkness which envelops Leon is truly lamentable, and the ignorance of
the people is so great that printed charms and incantations against Satan
and his host and against every kind of misfortune are publicly sold in
the shops and are in great demand; such are the results of Popery, a
delusion which more than any other has tended to debase and brutalise the
human mind.

I had scarcely risen from the bed where the fever had cast me, when I
found that my servant had become alarmed; he informed me that he had seen
several soldiers in the uniform of Don Carlos knocking at the door of the
_posada_, and that they had been making enquiries concerning me. It was
indeed a singular fact connected with Leon that upwards of fifty of these
fellows, who had on various accounts left the ranks of the pretender,
were walking about the streets dressed in his livery, and with all the
confidence which the certainty of the protection of the local authorities
could afford them, should any one be disposed to interrupt them. He
moreover informed me that the person in whose house we were living was a
notorious _alcahuete_, or spy to the robbers in the neighbourhood, and
that unless we took our departure speedily and unexpectedly, we should to
a certainty be plundered on the road. I did not pay much attention to
these hints, but my desire to quit Leon was great, as I was convinced
that as long as I continued there I should be unable to regain my health
and vigour. Accordingly, at three o'clock in the morning